Brewing Glossary

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Term Definition
ABV Alcohol By Volume
Adjunct

Not a necessary ingredient to brewing beer or making wine,

however these supplements may improve the taste or look of your finished product

Ale Beer made with top fermenting yeasts and normally fermented** at 20 - 22 C
Cider

A beverage made from fermented apples.

Other fruits may also be added when making this alcoholic drink.

Diacetyl

Is a buttery flavour in homebrew.

It can also be sign of poorly brewed beer.

DME Dry Malt Extract
LME Liquid Malt Extract
FG Final Gravity
OG Original Gravity
SG Specific Gravity
Hydrometer

Instrument that measures the amount of sugar in your homebrew.

It is used before pitching your yeast and then again, once the bubbles

have stopped (meaning fermentation is now done) to find your ABV

IBU Internation Bittering Units
Lager Beer made with bottom fermenting yeasts and normally fermented** at 7 - 13 C
Lovibond Is a scale by which the colour of homebrew is measured
SRM Is a scale by which the colour of homebrew is measured
EBC Is a scale by which the colour of homebrew is measured
Must

This is a term used in wine making.

Must contains the entire fruit and is the first step when making wine with fresh fruits

Refractometer Optical device for measuring Brix and/or Gravity
Sacch. Rest

This when you add water to your grain and allow it to sit for a determined amount of time,

at a certain tempurature in order for the enzymes to convert the starches (found in the grain) to sugar

Shandy Is a beer mixed with a carbonated soft drink
Sorghum Syrup Used in brewing to replace grains for those that are gluten intolerant
Tannin Produced from the skin and pips of the fruit used, they are what give wine a dry taste
V/V

Percentage of one liquid versus another.

So if it is states 8.5% v/v it means that 8.5% of the liquid is alcohol and the other 91.5% is water, flavouring, juice etc.

IBU International Bittering Units
Alpha Acids The bittering acids found in hops, the alpha acid levels determine your bitterness or IBUs
Body The body or mouthfeel of a beer, including it's consistency and thickness.
Carbonation Adding carbon dioxide gas bubbles to your beer through pressure or fermentation